Wednesday, June 11. 2008
"If anyone wonders about the future of live theater and wonders where the audience is, they are "under that tent"-NY Times article referring to the Shakespeare Festival at Boscobel, NY. Boscobel is a restored mansion that sits on acres and acres and acres of beautiful property sitting on the Hudson River. For about 12 years we have been enjoying the festival, going to at least one of the plays which are performed "under that tent" during the summer. Last night was opening night for the 2008 season and we were there to enjoy "Cymbeline" despite forecasts of severe thunder storms passing through the area. It was very hot and very, very humid during the first act and intermission. Just as the second act was unfolding it became very breezy and quickly progressed to very windy, blowing the sand and sawdust into everyone's eyes-especially the actors. It is pretty much a theater in the round and the floor is the earth and straw and sawdust. It is a beautiful venue as they use the backdrop, a expansive lawn dropping down to the Hudson River and the entire backdrop is the river. All of us were sort of pretending that the lightning that had now been flashing for about half an hour was not making us anxious. We were in a very large tent, with steel poles holding it up. No worry. They came out and announced that they were suspending the performance until the sand stopped blowing into the actors' mouths. Within a few minutes the wind became even stronger, the lightning even closer and the rain started coming down. What should we do? The parking lot is a good distance from the tent. In a matter of only another minute or so one of the staff came out and said, "Ladies and gentlemen, this is a very serious storm. We are asking that all of you leave the tent in an orderly manner through this exit where staff will direct you to the basement of the mansion until we can resume the play." What? Definitely a scary storm. Evacuating? So off we all go in an "orderly manner" into the basement of the mansion. We ended up in the boiler room with metal doors and lots of metal "stuff" all around us. And overhead some very heavy metal, huge "things" that if they came crashing down-well, they didn't. We were there for only about 15 minutes and then returned to our seats in an "orderly manner" for the completion of the play. "The show must go on."
These pictures are obviously not from last night but rather from 2007 but they give you the idea of the tent, the mansion, the backdrop.
2 comments:
Pictures from the basement would have been awesome!
Ok, why do people go into the basement during a storm?
Because of freakin TORNADOS!!!!!!
I kept waiting to see the wicked witch fly by.
Not much scares me in life. But tornados do. I've never seen one, never been in one, but still terrified.
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